FRENCH 313 George Sand and the Romantic Theater

George Sand, multi-faceted woman and influential writer, allows us to explore the Romantic Theater as well as the overall theater production of the century.  The fact that Sand’s theater was overlooked in her time and subsequently forgotten raises important questions of public recognition and literary posterity that we will examine.  Prerequisite: Two 200-level units, one of which must be 210 (if taken Fall 2004 or later), or 211 or above.

Une conspiration en 1537, George Sand’s first play, never appeared on the stage but was the genesis of Musset’s Lorenzaccio. This text shows that Sand made some attempts to write a romantic drama. The reading of Gabriel will highlight the fact that she subverts the model of the romantic hero to give voice to women. With Dumas’ Antony, we will examine the opposition between “drame historique” and “drame contemporain”. Then, we will read Cosima, George Sand’s first play performed at the Comédie-Française in which the subversion and feminisation of the male romantic hero is completed.

We will study social aspects of George Sand’s theater and examine her desire to touch and educate people through her staging of the condition of women, illegitimate children, and peasants (François le champi, Claudie).  Bringing out this aspect of her writing for the stage will enlarge our view of the Theater in the XIXth century and lead to discussion of other genres: Melodrama and “Vaudeville” (Scribe) which were very famous at the time and which confirm the existence of different types of publics and playhouses.

With her own adaptation of her novel, François le champi, for the stage, we will study another aspect of Sand’s approach to the theater. George Sand as a translator and adaptor of Shakespeare will allow us to evoke the influence of Shakespeare on Romantic Drama and on Sand’s own theater.  We will read Sand’s Comme il vous plaira and compare it to Shakespeare’s As you like it.

To understand why George Sand’s extensive theatrical production has been eclipsed, we will adapt a sociological and historical approach, first addressing the difference between public recognition at the time and subsequent literary recognition, then the importance of historical events and of the power of the “bourgeoisie”.

Written and oral work: Regular preparation of an analysis of the texts and discussion in class. One oral presentation, one paper (mid-term) and one final exam.

Works to be studied:

Sand, Une Conspiration en 1537, Gabriel, Cosima, François le champi (novel and play), Claudie, Comme il vous plaira, Préfaces à ses pièces (extraits), Musset, Lorenzaccio, Dumas, Antony, Scribe, La loi salique

Secondary Readings:

Shakespeare, As you like it, Ubersfeld, Le drame romantique (extraits)